CP Football Classification Rules Review
NewsThe new CP Football classification system was presented at the 2016 IFCPF General Assembly to our members. IFCPF announced the full review of the CP Football Classification Rules for the compliance of the 2015 IPC Athletes Classification Code and International Standards. The purpose of this review will be to ensure that Classification Rules reflect best practice, moving towards a sport-specific and evidence-based classification system.
IFCPF would like to congratulate Rauฬl Reina - Head of Classification, the IFCPF Classification Committee and all our CP Football classifiers on the new classification rules that are almost in the final stages before implementation. We would like to convey our sincere gratitude to each one of you who was involved in the process. It has been a long and tedious process, but each one of you can be proud of an exceptional product. A lot of your free time went into this process, but please be assured that it is highly appreciated and a key development for our sport.
The Review Process
The new Classification Rulebook includes General Provisions (Articles 1 to 13) to meet the requirements of the 2015 IPC Athlete Classification Code and International Standards, and this review round will consider all recent knowledge from classification research to revise and amend the appendices of the Classification Rules.
The application of the new classification profiles will be effective 1st January 2018, therefore competitions in 2017 will be regulated by the 2015 Classification Rules.
Teams involved in 2017 competitions sanctioned by IFCPF will be invited to informative sessions, and players involved in classification will receive a “double class”; one with the existing system in 2017 (classes FT5, FT6, FT7 and FT8) and one for the new system effective in 2018 (classes FT1, FT2 and FT3).
The timeline for these reviews is as follows:
| June 2015 | Information to Teams involved in 2015 IFCPF CP Football World Championships (July, England - 15 NPCs) |
| July 2016 | Information to Teams involved in 2016 IFCPF World Championships Qualification Tournament (Vejen, Denmark - 13 NPCs) Players Observation during the competition according the New Profiles. |
| September 2016 | Classification Committee Meetings at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Players Observation during the competition according to the New Profiles. |
| November 2016 | Information to Members at 2016 IFCPF General Assembly (San Cugat, Spain) |
| December 2016 | Letters to Members informing those players that require classification in the next competition they attend (C / RFD R Status) |
| January 2017 | New IFCPF Classification Rules revised by Classification Committee and Board |
| February 2017 | Heads of Classification Meeting in Bad-Honeff (Germany), where IPC communicated the Model for Classification Rules in Para sports. |
| March 2017 | Information to Teams involved in Youth Parapan American Games (Sao Paulo, Brazil - 6 NPCs). Players Observation during the competition according to the New Profiles. |
| April 2017 | Call to membership for recommendations/proposed amendments to the Classification Rules. Deadline to submit recommendations of April 30th. Self-Audit will be send to IPC according the Code Compliance Review Process. |
| May-June 2017 | Recommendations reviewed/approved by the IFCPF Classification Committee. Meeting of the Technical Committee at the Barcelona Trophy, discussing the implementation of the new profiles during the game for IFCPF Board approval. |
| June-July 2017 | Consolidation of approved recommendations and revised regulatory provisions into final draft of the Classification Rules. Any proposed amendments to the Classification Rules can be received from the IPC Code Compliance Review Committee. Attendance to IPCยดs Open Days and Rules submitted for IPCยดs Classification Committee review and self-audit. |
| September 2017 | Members' endorsement of the final draft Classification Rules. Meeting with Members at 2017 IFCPF World Championships (San Luis, Argentina - 16 NPCs) All players classified in San Luis will receive a โdouble classificationโ according to the current (FT5, FT6, FT7, FT8) and new profiles (FT1, FT2, FT3) |
| November 2017 | Publication of 2018 Classification Rules |
| January 2018 | New IFCPF Classification Rules and Sport Rules effective from 1st January 2018 |
Classification Rules
Athletes competing in CP Football have ataxia, hypertonia or dyskinesia (both athetosis and dystonia) - three impairment types that are most commonly associated with individuals having neurological impairment, with a motor control impairment of a cerebral nature, causing a permanent and verifiable Activity Limitation.
As CP Football is a team sport, classification aims at ensuring fairness with regard to the impact of impairment between both teams.
Existing System
Structure of CP-Football Classification System according to CPISRA Profiles
CP Football players are placed in categories for competition based on their impairment, these are called sport classes.To accomplish this, the players are firstly allocated one of four sport classes:
- FT5
- FT6
- FT7
- FT8
In order to ensure a fair game between two teams, each team (seven players) currently has to have two FT5 or FT6 player on the field at all times and is not allowed to have more than one FT8 players on the field.
New System
Structure of CP Football Classification System in these Rules
Three sport classes:
- FT1
- FT2
- FT3
Sport Rules
Following the introduction of the new IFCPF Classification Rules, the below sport rules will be effective from 1st January 2018
- Each team must field at least one (1) class FT1 player on the field of play at all times during a game, or the team will play with one less player.
- Each team may have a maximum of one (1) class FT3 player on the field of play at all times during a game. If the class FT3 player is dismissed, it is not allowed to replace a player in the field of play for a class FT3 player.
This change in Sport Rule refelcts the introduction of a lower Minimum Impairment Criterion (MIC) and new class profiles.